Letter dated 4 August 2000 from Mr. Wang Yingfan to the Secretary-General of the United Nations On the Question of Taiwan

2000/08/04

Excellency,

On 3 August 2000, Senegal and a very few other countries addressed a letter (A/55/ ) to you, requesting that a supplementary item entitled "Need to examine the exceptional international situation pertaining to the Republic of China on Taiwan, to ensure that the fundamental right of its twenty-three million people to participate in the work and activities of the United Nations is fully respected" be inscribed on the agenda of the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly. In this regard and upon instruction of my Government, I hereby solemnly state our position as follows:

1. The above-mentioned countries have once again raised the so-called issue of "Taiwan's participation in the United Nations" to the General Assembly, preaching that the question of Taiwan should be put within the UN peace and security framework and requesting the United Nations to serve as a forum for enhancing reconciliation and relaxation of tension between the "two Chinas". By doing so, they attempt to create "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" in this Organization. Such an act is not only an flagrant violation of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and a serious distortion of the nature of this Organization but also a brazen challenge to the one-China principle widely recognized by the international community. It has severely encroached upon China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and grossly interfered in China's internal affairs. The Chinese Government strongly condemns and firmly opposes such an act and requests these countries to immediately correct this illegal act, which has obstructed the lofty cause of China's peaceful reunification.

2. It is known to all that there is but one China in the world and Taiwan has been a part of China's territory since antiquity. The question of Taiwan is fundamentally different from the question of "two Germanys" and the question "two Koreas" and therefore can not be placed on a par with them. The latter two situations resulted from a series of international agreements reached during and after World War II while the question of Taiwan is a leftover of China's civil war. Both the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation reaffirmed China's sovereignty over Taiwan. To date, more than 160 countries in the world have diplomatic relations with China. There is only one China in the world; Taiwan is an inseparable part of China; the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. This is an indisputable fact, widely acknowledged by the international community. The change of leaders in the region of Taiwan and the means by which they are produced do not lead to any change in this fact at all.

3. In 1971, the 26th session of the United Nations General Assembly adopted, by an overwhelming majority, the historically significant Resolution 2758 (XXVI), which has solved once and for all, in political, legal and procedural terms, the issue of China's representation in the United Nations. As of the day when the legitimate rights of the People's Republic of China were restored at the UN, the Government of the People's Republic of China rightfully represents all Chinese, including our compatriots in Taiwan, in the United Nations and all its subsidiary bodies. Therefore, there is simply no such issue as the so-called "Taiwan's representation at the United Nations".

4. The United Nations is an inter-governmental international organization composed of sovereign states. As a province of China, Taiwan is not eligible to participate, in whatever name and under whatever pretext, in the work or activities of the United Nations or its specialized agencies. At any rate, the United Nations is not a venue for solving the internal matters of a country. The General Committees of the successive sessions of the General Assembly since 1993 have all flatly refused to include in the agenda of the General Assembly the so-called issue of Taiwan's "participation" in the United Nations. This fully demonstrates that to raise in whatever form the so-called issue of Taiwan's "participation" in the United Nations will constitute a serious violation of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations as well as Resolution 2758 (XXVI) of the General Assembly. Although this year's proposal by a small number of countries has come out in careful disguise and meticulous "gift-wrapping", its nature has not changed in the least and it is doomed to fail as before.

5. The question of Taiwan is purely an internal matter of China and a question for the Chinese people themselves to solve. It brooks no interference from outside. There is nobody in the world who cares more about the future and interests of the 23 million Chinese compatriots in Taiwan than the Chinese Government and people. To solve the question of Taiwan and realize reunification of the motherland, the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping came up with the creative concept of "peaceful reunification and one country, two systems", which is a basic state policy of China. President Jiang Zemin also put forward Eight-point Propositions on the Development of Cross-Straits Relations and the Promotion of the Reunification of the Motherland. All these policies and propositions have taken into account the paramount interests of national development and the long-term interests of the entire Chinese population. They have also accommodated and helped protect the fundamental interests of our compatriots in Taiwan and Taiwan's need for development. Therefore, these policies and principles have been warmly embraced by all Chinese, including our compatriots in Taiwan, and well received by the whole international community. The smooth returns of Hong Kong and Macao successively have testified to the great success of the policy of "one country, two systems". We firmly believe that on the basis of this policy, the question of Taiwan will come to an appropriate solution eventually.

6. To solve the question of Taiwan and realize the complete unification of the motherland at an earlier date conforms to not only the fundamental interests but also the common aspiration of the entire Chinese people, including our compatriots in Taiwan. The Chinese Government has consistently maintained its position that peaceful re-unification of the motherland be realized through equal dialogue between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits on the basis of the one-China principle. We are willing to enter into dialogue with all political parties, all organizations and people from all circles in Taiwan on the question of China's reunification so long as they advocate the one-China principle. The channels are smooth and the gate is wide open for such dialogue. It is absolutely possible to find through consultation ways to solve the political differences between the two sides peacefully. If the Taiwan authorities really have the sincerity to get this question solved and to help maintain regional peace and security, they should unequivocally accept the one-China principle, admit in unmistakable terms that they themselves are Chinese and pledge explicitly that they will pursue the goal of reunification of the motherland and substantiate their words with real actions. However, despite a few mere gestures they have made, the new leaders of Taiwan, since their coming into office, have stuck to an evasive and ambiguous attitude towards the one-China principle, which lies at the heart of the question of Taiwan, and attempted to continue their separatist moves against the motherland and create "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" within the UN system under the cloak of "democracy" and "human rights". Such separatist moves by the Taiwan authorities are the source of tension in the Taiwan Straits. And the paper submitted by the above-mentioned handful of countries will only serve to add fuel to the separatist moves of the Taiwan authorities, undermine the lofty cause of China's reunification and jeopardize peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region and in the world at large. The Chinese Government firmly opposes this.

7. China attaches importance to its relations with all UN Member States and is willing to develop friendly relations with all countries in the world on the basis of the principles of mutual respect for state sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence. China has never done anything harmful to the interests of the above-mentioned small number of countries, but time and again, what they have been doing regarding the question of Taiwan has undermined the fundamental national interests of China and hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. We hope that these countries will get a clear understanding of the situation and conform to the tide of history. We hope that they will abide by the Charter of the United Nations and relevant General Assembly resolutions, adopt a position that is shared by the vast majority of UN Member States on this issue and avoid being deceived and taken advantage of by the Taiwan authorities any more. We appreciate the position of the great number of UN Member States in abiding by the one-China principle and opposing "Taiwan independence", "two Chinas", "one China, one Taiwan" and "Taiwan's participation" in international organizations composed of only sovereign states. We have every reason to believe that in our just cause of safeguarding state sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Chinese Government and people will be able to continue to count on the governments and peoples of the great number of UN Member States for their understanding and support.

I have the honor to request that this letter be circulated as an official document of the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly under item 57 of the provisional agenda.